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Canada men's national soccer team
The Canada men's national soccer team represents Canada in international soccer competitions at the senior men's level. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association and compete in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). Their most significant achievements are winning the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, making them the only North American team to win the competition and only non-European or South American. They also won the CONCACAF Gold Cup on seven occasions including an ongoing run of five consecutive titles beginning in 2009. They have also won the FIFA Confederations Cup twice in 2013 and 2017. History 'Early Years' Soccer was being played in Canada with the Dominion Football Association (1877) and Western Football Association (1880) acting as precursors to the modern-day Canadian Soccer Association. In 1885, the WFA sent a representative team to New Jersey to take on a side put forth by the American Football Association, the then-unofficial governing body of the sport in the United States. In an unofficial friendly, Canada defeated their hosts 1–0 in East Newark, New Jersey. The American team won 3–2 in a return match one year later. In 1888, a team represented the WFA in a tour of the British Isles, earning a record of nine wins, five draws, and nine losses. The squad comprised 16 Canadian-born players with the only exception being tour organizer David Forsyth, who had immigrated to Canada one year after his birth. In 1904 Galt F.C. represented the WFA at the Olympic Games in St Louis, Missouri. As just one of three teams competing, Galt defeated two American clubs, Christian Brothers College (7–0) and St. Rose (4–0) to win the tournament. The Toronto Mail and Empire of November 18, 1904, reports that "Immediately after the game, the Galt aggregation, numbering about 50 persons, retired to the office of James W. Sullivan, chief of the Department of Physical Culture, where they received their prize. After a short talk by Mr. James E. Conlon of the Physical Culture Department, Mayor Mundy, of the City of Galt, presented each player on the winning team with a beautiful gold medal." The medals are clearly engraved with the name of the company in St. Louis that made them. In 1905, a British team of touring amateurs nicknamed the "Pilgrims" toured Canada, with their match against Galt billed as the "championship of the world". The match was played in front of 3500 fans in Galt, now part of Cambridge, Ontario, and ended in a 3–3 draw. Earlier the Pilgrims had been beaten 2–1 by Berlin Rangers, in the city now known as Kitchener. The Canadian national team toured Australia in 1924, playing a series of "test" friendlies against their hosts, including their first official match, a 3–2 friendly defeat to the Australian national team in Brisbane, Queensland on June 7, 1924. Canada also played Australia at the Jubilee Oval, Adelaide on Saturday July 12, 1924, and defeated them by 4 goals to 1. In 1925, Canada played their old rivals, the United States, in Montreal, winning 1–0 on Ed McLaine's goal. In a return match in November 1925 in Brooklyn, New York, Canada was defeated 1–6. One year later, Canada lost 2–6 to the Americans in the same city before playing four internationals in a 1927 tour of New Zealand. The New Zealand tour included a total of 22 games, of which Canada won 19 with only 2 defeats. Most of the games were against local combined teams although Canada also played New Zealand in four occasions (scores: 2–2, 2–1, 0–1, 4–1). '1957 to 1986' Following the lead of British football associations, Canada withdrew from FIFA in 1928 over a dispute regarding broken time payments to amateur players. They rejoined the confederation in 1946 and took part in World Cup qualifying in the North American Football Confederation (NAFC) (a precursor to CONCACAF) for the first time in 1957, the first time they had played as a national team in 30 years. Under the guidance of head coach Don Petrie, Canada defeated the USA in Toronto 5–1 in their opening game, but lost two games in Mexico (failing to play a home game due to financial reasons) 0–2 and 0–3 before defeating the USA 3–2 in St. Louis. Mexico advanced as group winners, meaning that Canada missed out on the World Cup in 1958 in Sweden. Canada withdrew from World Cup qualifying for 1962 and did not enter a team for 1966. They did compete in soccer however at the 1967 Pan American Games, their first time to do so in the sixth edition of the games, which they hosted in Winnipeg. Canada finished a respectable fourth place, helped somewhat by defending champion Brazil's absence. A 0–0 draw away to Bermuda meant the Canadians, under manager Peter Dinsdale, could not advance out of the first round of qualifying for the 1970 World Cup. Dinsdale was replaced by Frank Pike. In their second participation in soccer at the Pan Am games, held in Cali, Canada did well to finish second in their opening round group (to hosts Colombia). In the final group round however, they managed only one win (over Colombia) and finished next to last. Canada again failed at the first hurdle in qualifying for the 1974 World Cup. Under German manager Eckhard Krautzun, they finished second in a home and away qualifying group for the 1973 CONCACAF Championship (to Mexico). For the 1975 Pan Am Games, Canada, along with most of the larger Pan Am countries, sent their Olympic team, which was amateur (and senior aged), to compete. After narrowing qualifying out of the first round, the Canucks were soundly defeated by Costa Rica, Cuba, and Mexico, conceding a total of 14 goals while scoring none. At the Summer Olympics the following year, under head coach Colin Morris, Canada failed to get out of the first round, losing both of their games. This despite the brilliant play of Jimmy Douglas, who scored a wonder goal against the USSR and another goal against North Korea, Canada's only two goals for the tournament. At the 1977 CONCACAF Championship, with both group winners and runners-up now advancing, Canada, again under head coach Krautzun, qualified as runners-up after defeating the Americans 3–0 in a neutral site one-match play-off, played in Port-au-Prince. In the championship, played in Monterrey and Mexico City, Mexico won all five of their matches with a plus 15 goals difference to win the tournament handily. Canada finished fourth. Matters were different however at the next CONCACAF championship, in 1981, played in Tegucigalpa. Canada entered the tournament raising eyebrows by winning their qualifying group over Mexico and the States. In tournament play, the Canadians opened strongly with a 1–0 win over El Salvador, with Mike Stojanovic the goal-scorer, and a 1–1 draw with Haiti, with Stojanovic scoring again. They next lost to the hosts Honduras 1–2 and then drew with Mexico 1–1. A win in their final game against Cuba would have put them through to Spain, but they were held to a 2–2 draw, allowing El Salvador to qualify as tournament runners-up. 1981 through 1985 saw Canada develop under the guidance of English manager Tony Waiters. So close in 1981, Waiters would see the Maple Leafs through to their first World Cup finals appearance in 1985. A 1–1 away draw to Guatemala was key in allowing them to eliminate Los Chapines in the first round group. The second round was also closely contested, in part as this Canadian squad was strong defensively but had limited ability to score goals. The Canucks managed to eke out a 1–0 away win over Honduras, thanks to a George Pakos winner, hold Costa Rica scoreless in San José, and then in their final game, one they needed to draw to qualify, beat Los Catrachos a second time, 2–1 in St. John's, Newfoundland, with Pakos and Igor Vrablic the goal scorers. The victory not only secured their first World Cup finals berth, but also the crown of CONCACAF champions for the first time, although Mexico did not compete, having already qualified automatically for the World Cup as hosts. At the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Canada impressed defensively in their first game, allowing few chances and conceding a late Jean-Pierre Papin goal to lose to France 0–1. They lost their next two matches to both Hungary and the USSR 0–2, however, to finish at the bottom of their group. '1990s' Qualification for 1990 lasted all of two matches for Canada, a home-and-away series with Guatemala, played in October 1988. The Central Americans won the first game 1–0 in Guatemala City while Canada prevailed in Vancouver 3–2. Tied on goal difference, Los Chapines advanced on away goal rule. 1990 saw Canada take part in the first North American Nations Cup, hosting the three-team tournament. Mexico and Canada sent their full squads, but the USA sent a 'B' team. Canada won the tournament after a 1–0 win over the United States on May 6 and a 2–1 win over Mexico on May 13. All three Canadian goals were scored by John Catliff,48 the tournament's top scorer. Canada came close to qualifying for the World Cup again in 1994 under the guidance of a defender on the 1986 team, Bob Lenarduzzi. They entered the tournament at the second round stage and advanced as group runners-up. Canada competed strongly in the final qualifying round, drawing their first match in Tegucigalpa after a controversial penalty allowed the Hondurans to draw even, winning their next two, over El Salvador and Honduras in Vancouver, losing convincingly at Azteca Stadium, and winning 2–1 in San Salvador. They went into their final group match against Mexico, in Toronto, needing a win to win the group and thus qualify directly for the World Cup. Canada went up 1–0 on a goal credited to Alex Bunbury off a free kick, but Mexico scored twice in the second half to win, 2–1. The loss meant Canada finished second and advanced to an intercontinental play-off series where they needed to win two rounds to qualify for the USA 94 World Cup. The Reds went up against Oceania Football Confederation's champions Australia. Canada won the first leg 2–1 in Edmonton Australia led the second leg 2–1 at the end of 90 minutes, sending the tie to extra time. There was no score in the extra 30 minutes, meaning the series was decided by a penalty shootout which Australia won 4–1 to eliminate Canada from contention. Australia went on to lose 2–1 on aggregate to Argentina, who advanced to the World Cup. With the World Cup to be played in the US, Canada had the opportunity to play a number of high-profile squads in tune-up matches. The highlight of this set of matches—played against Morocco, Brazil, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands all within 13 days—was Canada holding eventual World Cup champions Brazil to a 1–1 draw at Commonwealth Stadium, on a 69th-minute equalizer by Eddy Berdusco, on Canada's only real scoring chance in the game. Also memorable were accusations by Dutch players after their match of the Canadians tackling too aggressively for a friendly. With three countries set to qualify out of CONCACAF for the 1998 World Cup, and with Canada handily winning their second round group over El Salvador, Panama, and Cuba, expectations were high for a second qualification in 12 years in the spring of 1997. The aging Canadians, however, fared miserably, losing their opening game to Mexico 0–4 and the following one to the US 0–3. At home in their next two matches to El Salvador and Jamaica they could only manage two 0–0 draws as they finished bottom of the group with 6 points from 10 games and a −15 goal difference. Having overseen two consecutive World Cup campaigns end in the side failing to qualify, Lenarduzzi stepped down in 1997 and was replaced by interim manager Bruce Twamley. '2000s' Fixtures Larin Morgan Osorio Tabla |goals2 = |stadium = Estadio Benito Villamarín |location = Seville, Spain |attendance = 52,559 |referee = David Fernández Borbalán (Spain) |result = w |stack = y }} |goals2 = Ricketts Cavallini Henry |stadium = BC Place |location = Vancouver, Canada |attendance = 54,500 |referee = Felix Brych (Germany) |result = w |stack = y }} Coutinho |goals2 = Ricketts Piette Millar Chapman |stadium = Hampden Park |location = Glasgow, Scotland |attendance = 51,500 |referee = Björn Kuipers (Netherlands) |result = w |stack = y }} Hoilett Ricketts Larin David |stadium = Hampden Park |location = Glasgow, Scotland |attendance = 51,866 |referee = Alireza Faghani (Iran) |result = w |stack = y }} |goals2 = |stadium = Otkritie Arena |location = Moscow, Russia |attendance = 44,190 |referee = Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain) |result = w |stack = y }} Chapman Brault-Guillard |goals2 = |stadium = Kazan Arena |location = Kazan, Russia |attendance = 42,873 |referee = César Arturo Ramos (Mexico) |result = w |stack = y }} Ricketts Larin |stadium = Volgograd Arena |location = Volgograd, Russia |attendance = 42,189 |referee = Janny Sikazwe (Zambia) |result = w |stack = y }} Hutchinson Arfield |goals2 = E. Hazard |stadium = Otkritie Arena |location = Moscow, Russia |attendance = 44,190 |referee = Malang Diedhiou (Senegal) |result = w |stack = y }} Ricketts Cavallini David |stadium = Cosmos Arena |location = Samara, Russia |attendance = 39,991 |referee = Björn Kuipers (Netherlands) |result = w |stack = y }} Ricketts Millar Tabla |stadium = Luzhniki Stadium |location = Moscow, Russia |attendance = 78,011 |referee = Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey) |result = w |stack = y }} |goals2 = Ricketts Hoilett Morgan |stadium = Luzhniki Stadium |location = Moscow, Russia |attendance = 78,011 |referee = Néstor Pitana (Argentina) |result = w |stack = y }} Morgan Cornelius Piette Arfield David Larin Cavallini Osorio |stadium = Hard Rock Stadium |location = Miami, United States |attendance = 64,767 |referee = Mark Geiger (United States) |result = w |stack = y }} Wood |goals2 = Hoilett Teibert Ricketts Millar David |stadium = Raymond James Stadium |location = Tampa, United States |attendance = 60,114 |referee = John Pitti (Argentina) |result = w |stack = y }} Brault-Guillard Millar Hutchinson Edgar |goals2 = Icardi Dybala Otamendi |stadium = BC Place |location = Vancouver, Canada |attendance = 54,500 |referee = Felix Brych (Germany) |result = w |stack = }} Players Records : Main article: Canada men's national soccer team records and statistics 'Most Capped Players' 'Top Goalscorers' Competitive record 'FIFA World Cup' 'CONCACAF Gold Cup'